German chemicals firm BASF has made biobased Polytetrahydrofuran 1000 (PolyTHF 1000) available for the first time. The company is now providing this intermediate to selected partners for testing various applications in a large scale.

“The biobased PolyTHF 1000 is identical in quality to the petrochemical-based product,” said Andrej Brejc, Director Renewable Diols from BASF’s Intermediates division, adding, “The opportunity to expand the range of products and applications made from renewable raw materials allows us and our partners to further explore the long-term market acceptance of this innovative technology.”

PolyTHF is derived from 1,4 butanediol (BDO), which BASF has produced under license from Genomatica.

BASF is the world’s leading provider of PolyTHF. It is primarily used to make elastic spandex fibres for a large variety of textiles, including underwear, outerwear, sportswear and swimsuits. PolyTHF 1000 is mainly applied as a chemical building block for thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which is used to make for example parts of ski boots and skates, shoe soles and instrument panel skin for automotive applications as well as hoses, films and cable sheathing. It is also used as a component of thermoplastic polyetheresters and polyetheramides. Other applications include cast elastomers, which are used, for example, for the production of wheels for skateboards and inline skates.

Amines expansion in Germany

In other news, BASF is significantly expanding its production capacity for about 20 speciality amines at its Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, in a double-digit million euro amount in expanding current production facilities, which are planned to go on stream gradually by early 2017. The speciality amines are especially used for the manufacturing of coatings, lubricants, crop protection products and pharmaceuticals. With this investment, BASF says it strengthens its worldwide amine production network with plants in Ludwigshafen and Schwarzheide, Germany, in Antwerp, Belgium, in Geismar, Louisiana and in Nanjing, China.

“This investment will allow us to meet the growing demand that our European customers have for speciality amines,” said Stefan Blank, President, BASF Intermediates division. “We have decades of experience in the development and manufacturing of amines and hold a leading position globally with regard to these versatile intermediate products. Through the current expansion, we will strengthen this position.”

In March and April 2014, BASF announced the construction of two new multiple product plants for the manufacturing of speciality amines at the BASF Verbund sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Nanjing, China, where start up is planned for 2015.

With about 200 different amines, BASF says it has the world’s most diverse portfolio of this type of chemical intermediates. Along with alkyl, alkanol, alkoxyalkylamines, the company offers heterocyclic and aromatic as well as speciality amines. The range is completed by an expanding portfolio of chiral amines of high optical and chemical purity. The products are used mainly to manufacture process chemicals, pharmaceuticals and crop protection products, as well as cosmetic products and detergents. They also serve to produce coatings, special plastics, composites and special fibres.